Rob’s murder left all the Faithful confused while banished Hannah admitted her spreadsheets hadn’t helped her as a Traitor
Beckett’s kicked the bucket – as Claudia described his murder
While comedian Rob Beckett found being murdered funny in The Celebrity Traitors, Professor Hannah Fry said she’d cried more during her five days of playing the game than at any other point in her life.
Hannah was banished at the round table last night with 12 of the 15 remaining players writing her name on the slate – giving them a landslide 80% victory. Speaking straight after leaving the castle, she admitted that she’d found her time there to be a rollercoaster of emotions. “I laughed more, cried more and got more excited than I ever have in the entirety of the rest of my life combined,” she explained.
“I really preferred being Faithful. I think it’s just a much more authentic experience,” she added, saying that one of the lessons learned was that she hated “lying to people’s faces”. “I think there’s actually some pride in being a rubbish Traitor.”
The maths guru, who has two daughters aged eight and six with her ex-husband, said that being a Traitor had been far harder than playing as a Faithful – which is what she’d gone into the game to do. “One of the reasons why I didn’t want to be a Traitor is because the only way your game ends is by being banished or winning – having people vote for you and having heat on you is part of the role of being a Traitor.”
Hannah confessed she’d avoided voting for Julie Hesmondhalgh out of guilt because the actress was “lovely” and had instead gone for Jerry Hall as “the one person on that whole table who could handle being voted for”.
The 42-year-old said she always knew she might not last long in the game. “On the first day, I asked Michael Sheen who he would murder, and he said, ‘You’. At that point I knew I was really in trouble.”
And the BBC presenter also confessed that getting the roman numerals right in her final mission – to help with the group £8,000 – had been far tougher than it looked. “I knew that everyone was going to expect me to be the one to solve it, but I think people have this image in their heads that mathematicians just sit around thinking of big numbers all day – it couldn’t be further from the truth. I haven’t used a number since I was about 16, I’m all about the x’s and y’s.”
Along with the trickier moments, there was also some highs. “Killing Rob Beckett was one of the best evenings I’ve had in my entire life,” she laughed. “I was running through the woods in the middle of the night, opening the door to Rob’s face. It was delightful.”
Speaking after being killed face-to-face with the traitors, dad-of-two Rob said that he cared less about the game and more about the juicy stories the other celebs were sharing in the castle. “What I loved most was meeting everyone and talking to them,” he explained. “When you have Michael Sheen, Richard E . Grant, Jerry Hall, James Blunt, I don’t care who’s a Traitor. Give me the anecdotes, I want the gossip. So everyone was going back to the hotel writing ideas of who it might be in their notepad, and I’ve got a notepad full of anecdotes that they told me that can only get wheeled out when I’m drunk at a party.”
When The Traitors arrived as his crypt to tell him he’d been murdered, he responded jovially: “Thank you very much James Acaster!” But he did say he expected comedy sidekick Romesh Ranganathan to “avenge my death”.
Rob, 40, reckoned the only Traitor he’d potentially identified at the start was Richard E Grant – so was “gutted” when the actor blurted it out. But the funnyman realised too late how James Acaster had been giving him a wide berth. “I gave James the benefit of the doubt because he desperately wanted to be a Faithful, but then that’s the oldest trick in the book, saying that. He had been really quiet, and on reflection, he’d avoided me a lot which makes sense, because I know him quite well. And then Maya Jama does not change her personality, whatever’s happening. So she’s going to be a great Traitor, I think she could win it.”
Confessing he was happy to go home because he’d been missing his kids, aged eight and 10, Rob said his highlight in the castle has been hitting it off with Jerry Hall. “I love her. She’s got such an amazing energy. She’s just so chilled. We just floated on together. She tells me her life motto probably every eight minutes, and that is ‘what will be, will be’.”
He now wants Jerry, 70, to win – along with his close pal Romesh. “Jerry Hall’s my pick, a rank outsider, but she’s my pick. The ultimate finale would be Leigh-Anne, Jerry and Romesh staring down Acaster. Three on one and they take his sorry ass to the cleaners.”
He believes his relaxed way of playing the game far outweighs the high-pressure path that Hannah had been forced down. ”I’d say, don’t stress yourself about it. All the money goes to charity. Have a good time for a long time.”
One of the surprising things Hannah discovered in The Celebrity Traitors was that she is actually related to Irish comedian Joanne McNally because their cousins are married. “We’re basically sisters,” she laughed. “I really loved her so much. She described herself as coming out of the womb as a show pony – that’s the perfect description of that woman. She is phenomenal. She knows exactly who she is, and she is totally unapologetic about it. I cannot tell you how much I admire her.”
While she’d like to see Joanne win, Hannah now thinks that fellow Traitor Maya or Faithful Leigh-Anne are the most likely to reach the final. “I think Maya is playing the most amazing game. When someone looks like that, I think that you expect her to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder because she’s one of the most beautiful women alive, but she’s also just so much fun. No airs and graces, totally delightful to be around.”
She also believes that Leigh-Anne has a great chance in the game, because she’s been woefully underestimated. “My God, that woman hasn’t got a single thing wrong. She’s the most perceptive person I’ve ever come across in my entire life. Is she psychic?
“Leigh-Anne needs to keep quiet about how good she is because I don’t think people have necessarily noticed. As soon as Maya notices that Leigh-Anne is that good, she’s going to kill her.”
Last night’s episode ended with boxer turned YouTube star King Kenny being recruited into the turret – much to his enormous surprise. “Being a Faithful was fun, but being a Traitor is going to be better,” he declared.
Urging Maya Jama and James Acaster not to double-cross him, he admitted he had concerns about joining them halfway through the game. “I worry the Traitors can switch on me at any time.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
